i automaticly rate all the chems albums as the biggest records in the world ever, so im wondering if anyone can tell me:



which albums were huge for the chems, and which were put down by the media and diddnt sell as well as others?



werd

Hmm. That's a pretty good question, I could talk about this all day if provoked hehe. I guess it depends on what you're reading, and it depends on the source - fans, media, the charts, overall sales. I think it also depends on where you're from. Like for instance, when I went to London in January, you couldn't get away from Push The Button. There were posters at every tube stop, big window displays in record stores, retailers blasting Galvanize out of their shops. But back here in the States, things seemed kind of quiet and there wasn't a whole lot of hoopla surrounding the album's release.



Many would argue that Dig Your Own Hole is the Chemical Brothers' best work. It was given rave reviews by critics hailing the Chemical Brothers the saviors of dance music, and it's been put up on a pedestal by fans and being touted as untouchable. There are varying factors as to why this album is still so highly acclaimed - enough factors really to get into all sorts of heated debate on here, I'm sure!



I think there must be a thousand and one articles on the net (from old magazine articles to fan sites to blurbs here and there) trying to support this theory, even though there's thousands more that probably disagree.



Sales wise, I think Surrender has fared the best although I could be wrong, I don't really keep close track of what sells the best where and how and why. At least I know only in passing. Push The Button has been very well received in the U.S. despite Americans' fickle attitude toward music. And in my opinion, the success of Push The Button puts up a nice middle finger to all those slag reviews it got and the doom and gloom dance-music-is-dead articles written in various UK music rags.



But if you go way back to Exit Planet Dust, this album is regarded as a breakthrough that helped innovate a big beat movement and forever change the electronic music landscape. So I guess by some peoples' measures, this could be considered the Chems' biggest work.



Anyone else got any other thoughts - especially about their other albums? I could go on and on, but really, you don't want me to. ;) We all have our opinions and our favorites, but from a purely nonbiased perspective (if that's at all possible, I know it's hard) it would be kind of interesting to see what's the biggest and where especially considering there's lots of people from all over the world on here...

I'm one of those believers that dig your own hole was the chems best work...it was the first album I bothered to buy of theirs first and I regard it as my favorite album of all time. But I didn't get fully into the chems till a few years back. I mean I always was into them but today my love for them is at it's peck.



Besides that Surrender was probably the most well known for people who weren't really fans...my best friend (completely hopeless in the taste of music) doesn't know anything about the chems and the only song though she knows about is Hey Boy Hey Girl..."oh the skeleton one" she likes to say.



Sadly though not many of my friends know about push the button but they do like to boogie to Galvanize when it hits the dance floor...although PTB is still in the top 5 of the dance album carts here in melb and its considered as a top seller so if no one I know is buying it...(expect for my boyfriends brother who is my obession partner) I wonder who is...I need to find these people!



I donno why this whole dance music is dead thing started I mean melbourne still seems to be pumping.... although a lot of dance records stores have sadly shut down recently or have relocated to a smaller venue

My personally fave had to be Surrender. I also am a big fan of Come With Us, this album is such a great album and I hate the the way it wasnt well recieved and had a battering from the critics. I do also really like Push The Button but don't rate it as highly as Surrender despite the massive sales.

thats what i thought, i always thought that come with us was the record that was shunned by all the critics.



but the thing is down here in australia, it got massive air play on the only decent national radio station, Triple j. i would hear something off that record once a fortnight at the least.



its strange how the records do well some places and shithouse in others

Come With Us barely got any radio play where I'm from. It may have been hard for people to warm up to, but it's a disappointment that the singles from that era didn't get that much attention. Especially The Test - with Richard Ashcroft's vocals it would seem it would've been a good crossover hit on the indie rock stations (where I am) at least.



Anyway, what kwiddle said regarding Surrender being the most well known for people who aren't fans. It's an interesting point, one that maybe I agree with partly because for me and a lot of people I know, that was the defining record of our 1999's and it helped bring a lot of new people into the chemical fold. But on the other hand, Block Rockin Beats and Setting Sun can be argued as being the songs well known by people that aren't fans. I would think Block Rockin Beats and Setting Sun are as instantly recognizable as Hey Boy Hey Girl. Then again my judgment is clouded because I am so familiar with all the Chems tunes!

Here, BRB and Setting Sun are definetly the tracks your average moron remembers. HBHG, too, to a lesser extent. Let Forever Be got a lot of video play thanks to Gondry's outstanding video, but most people have forgotten about the track, I think. Because of K-oS's collaboration, Get Yourself High was a minor hit in Canada.

Come With Us was slagged off by the critics I thought?



For me personally 'Surrender' and 'Push The Button' are average albums.



The first 2 albums still kick ass. It's pimpin', geddit nigga!?!

i dont think ive ever heard a chemical brothers song on the radio in my area

me either

You know, I havn't really either. My dad heard Galvenize on an internet radio once (dosn't count of course). I even wrote my my local radio station when PTB came out because I knew it was a very pop friendly chemical album that would actually do well on there. :x

Slipvin Escribi�:

Come With Us was slagged off by the critics I thought?



For me personally 'Surrender' and 'Push The Button' are average albums.



The first 2 albums still kick ass. It's pimpin', geddit nigga!?!

Come With Us, for the most part, received a lukewarm response from a lot of critics. Nothing overtly terrible was written about it (I think I remember an oneline review that made no bones slagging off The Test, it was kinda harsh) but nothing overtly brilliant was written about it either except for maybe Star Guitar. At the time though, the UK mags weren't as harsh toward the Chems as they were when Push The Button came out.



You're right, the first 2 albums still kick ass. They've definitely achieved staying power over the years!

Man, Come With Us is awesome, better than PTB in my opinion. I dont see how it could get such bad reviews.